We are partnering Singapore Gymnastics for a Cartwheel-a-thon on 13 January 2024 and on Wednesday, they held a gymnastics class for our children. When the session was over and the kids were having their refreshments, a volunteer asked me what I do. It was a good question for a meaningful conversation and after spontaneously replying that I oversee the day-to-day running of the organisation which includes budgets and such, I became a little more reflective. I told her that nurturing a community workplace where collegaues are safe, inspired, and informed is a task that I prioritise. This is a workplace where people have purpose, competence, success, and are always learning and growing.
So, upholding an organizational structure that enables autonomy and self-managed teams is an ongoing effort because having control over one’s work sustains motivation, job performance, and satisfaction. To do this, the leadership needed is not the management paradigm of efficiency maximization through tight supervision and control. Rather it is one that is rooted in principles such as nonviolence, care, mutual respect, trust, and partnership where narratives grounded in empathy and care emerge.
Early this year, I was introduced to The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves by Shawn A. Ginwright (North Atlantic Books, 2022) which advocates for social change through deep collective healing rather than problem analysis, organizing or scaling. Professor Ginwright contends that “Trust, vision, wholeness, humane relationships, and hope are the tools required for deep change in our work.”
He calls for healing-centred leadership that requires empathy over blame, compassion over complacency, and curiosity over criticism. This call resonates with a community workplace and I would like to share briefly the 4 pivots that leaders must make for healing.
Firstly, pivot to the awareness that we are cause to a situation. Instead of viewing a situation through a lens of analysis, see the situation as a mirror of ourselves and explore how we may contribute to the change we want to see. Then, it is to move from transactional to transformative relationships. We need to stop teaching but to learn vulnerability, empathy, and listening if we are to form deep connections with others.
The third pivot concerns vision and an ability to see possibilities rather than problems. Problem solving keeps us focused on the deficiencies, the gaps and basically what is not working. Perhaps, it was never meant to work anyway, and the people concerned have a better chance of success doing something else.
Finally, it is showing up each day in a calmer way and pivoting from hustle to flow. We probably would not want to admit it, but we are addicted to our hectic life even if we complain about it. Being busy assures us that we are important, and we matter but this stops us from taking time to reflect about what really is important, take stock, to connect with others and to heal.
These 4 pivots suggest to me that to heal we need space to reflect, to be gentle with ourselves, to care for others and to imagine possibilities that give us life, and these we cannot do if we are busy, mentally occupied, tired, or worn out. Hence to lead, we need to rest, and rest is leadership.
This is our last issue for the year as we will be taking the next 2 weeks to heal and to rest so that we may be in a better place to lead with care, empathy, and compassion in the new year. We will be back in 2024 and we wish you the rest you need to deal with what’s important for you in the New Year.
For peace and community,
Gerard